US Warns Iran Of Extraordinary IAEA Meeting If It Fails To Cooperate

Ali Bagheri-Kani who is also Iran’s deputy foreign minister, also said that the Biden Administration should provide a guarantee that Washington will not once again withdraw from an agreement.

Speaking to The Independent days before nuclear talks resume in Vienna, he insisted that former US president Donald Trump’s policy of maximum pressure on Iran had failed, and the Biden Administration should not repeat the same mistake.

Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018 saying the agreement cannot stop Iran from producing nuclear weapons and began imposing sanctions that became known as a ‘maximum pressure’ policy.

Although Tehran claims to have defeated US sanctions, its economy is in a crisis with nearly 50-percent inflation, a 50-percent budget deficit and a falling currency.

World powers say that earlier this year, six rounds of talks in Vienna made a lot of progress, but Iran’s new government formed in August is dominated by hardliners who have put forth new conditions for restoring the JCPOA.

“Our president said they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. The diplomats are in the lead on this, but Central Command always has a variety of plans that we could execute, if directed,” McKenzie said.

After Iran suspended nuclear talks in Vienna in June and kept postponing the resumption of talks, the Biden Administration started issuing warnings in recent weeks that “other options” are available to deal with a fast-advancing Iranian nuclear program. Iran finally agreed to resume talks on November 29, but it has toughened its position.

General McKenzie also said that Iran is very close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, adding, “I think they like the idea of being able to breakout.”

Tehran is demanding the removal of all US sanctions imposed since 2018, all at once, and verification of the result. It is also demanding that the Biden Administration provide guarantees that no future US government would withdraw from an agreement.

Former President Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, in 2018, saying it was inadequate in preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Mohammad Reza Ghaebi, Tehran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) spoke at the ongoing meeting of the agency’s Board of Governors saying that the United Kingdom, France and Germany (E3) have failed to stand up to US maximum pressure sanctions and instead criticize his government.

Ghaebi defended Iran’s decision to reduce IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities and Tehran’s accelerated uranium enrichment process, insisting that purifying fissile material to 60 percent is within Iran’s rights under international conventions.

The E3 in their statement had warned that the higher-degree enrichment has no civilian purpose and demanded that Iran immediately return to its obligations under the Joint Plan of Action, or JCPOA, which allows only 3.65 percent enriched uranium.

Ghaebi reiterated Iran’s position that the only reason for the current crisis is the actions of the United States by withdrawing from the JCPOA and imposing sanctions. He also repeated Tehran’s demand that sanctions should be “verifiably” removed before there can be a new deal. He said as along as US sanctions remain in place no one should expect continence by Iran.

The E3, as the three counties are known within the framework of the Iran nuclear talks, said that Iran has been escalating its nuclear program “systematically” for two years, “permanently and irreversibly upgrading its nuclear capabilities”.

The United States also issued a statement in Vienna, voicing strong support for the efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring efforts. US officials also reiterated that they are ready to reach an agreement with Iran to revive the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of action, or JCPOA.

The E3 were mainly referring to Iran’s uranium enrichment which has increased both in quantity and quality since 2019 as a reaction to the US withdrawal from JCPOA. But the enrichment took another leap this year when Tehran said it is enriching to 60 percent, getting close to the 90-percent uranium purity needed for a nuclear bomb.

Warning of the inherent risk to the international community, the E3 declared, “Iran has no plausible civilian justification for both 20% and 60% enrichment and the production of High Enriched Uranium (HEU) is unprecedented for a State without a weapons program.”

They went on to say that Iran has already stockpiled enough fissile material to produce more than one nuclear bomb and continues to make advances that reduce its breakout time. Significantly, the E3 warned that these escalations and advances “are irreversibly reducing the counter-proliferation value of the JCPOA.”

The E3 also expressed deep concern over Iran’s decision to reduce cooperation with the IAEA since early this year, curtailing its monitoring activities and stonewalling on providing answers to the nuclear watchdog’s questions about its past activities.

The European powers pointed out that IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi visited Tehran twice since September, but Iran failed to resolve these issues. “It is essential that Iran returns to full implementation of JCPOA-related IAEA monitoring arrangements,” the statement said.

While the statement is a stern warning to Iran, it is not clear if the E3 and the United States would table a proposal at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting to censure Iran.

"If they start getting too close, too close for comfort, then of course we will not be prepared to sit idly by," he told National Public Radio in an interview, according to excerpts released by the US broadcaster. The excerpts of the interview released on Wednesday did not address what he meant by "too close" nor US options in that case.

Indirect talks between the United States and Iran are set to resume in Vienna on Monday with the other members of the 2015 nuclear deal - Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia - shuttling between the two sides because Iranian officials refuse to meet directly with their US counterparts.

Iran has adopted a tougher negotiating position in recent weeks, demanding the US lift sanctions all at once before an agreement is reached in the Vienna talks. It has also demanded guarantees from the Biden Administration that future US governments will not withdraw from an agreement, a proposition the White House cannot deliver on given US constitutional provisions.

US President Joe Biden is trying to revive the 2015 deal, under which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in return for relief from US, UN and EU sanctions. Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, abandoned the agreement in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, prompting Iran to begin violating its nuclear limits by enriching uranium at higher levels.

This has led to alarm in many capitals as it would bring Iran closer to the threshold of nuclear weapons, while multilateral talks are dragged out.

"If they choose not to go back into the deal, then obviously we're going to have to see other efforts - diplomatic and otherwise - to try to address Iran's nuclear ambitions," the US Special Envoy for Iran said in the interview, which was recorded on Tuesday and is scheduled for broadcast on Friday.

A trip by Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to Iran on Tuesday to resolve limitations on monitoring failed. Iran’s refusal to give full access to the UN nuclear watchdog might have a negative impact on the upcoming talks.

Malley said that if Iran chose not to revive compliance with the agreement and instead dragged its feet at the negotiating table and continued to accelerate its nuclear program "we'll have to respond accordingly ... the options that are at America's disposal are, you know, they're familiar to all."

With reporting by Reuters